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Allow Surrogacy For Single Men, Mothers: Delhi HC

  • Posted By
    10Pointer
  • Categories
    Polity & Governance
  • Published
    30th May, 2022

The Delhi High Court issued a notice to the Union government on a petition challenging some provisions of the Surrogacy (Regulation) Act and the Assisted Reproductive Technology (Regulation) Act.

Context 

The Delhi High Court issued a notice to the Union government on a petition challenging some provisions of the Surrogacy (Regulation) Act and the Assisted Reproductive Technology (Regulation) Act.

Issues raised by the petition

  • Currently, the law does not allow single men to have children through surrogacy.
  • Married women can only avail surrogacy services if they are unable to produce a child due to medical conditions.
  • Otherwise, for women to avail of surrogacy services, they must be aged between 35 and 45 and widowed or divorced.
  • Women can only offer surrogacy if they are aged between 25 and 35 and married with at least one biological child.
  • The laws also require a surrogate to be genetically related to the couple who intend to have a child through this method, their petition said.

Features of the Surrogacy (Regulation) Act, 2021

  • Definition of surrogacy: It defines surrogacy as a practice where a woman gives birth to a child for an intending couple with the intention to hand over the child after the birth to the intending couple.
  • Regulation of surrogacy: It prohibits commercial surrogacy, but allows altruistic surrogacy which involves no monetary compensation to the surrogate mother other than the medical expenses and insurance.
  • Purposes for which surrogacy is permitted: Surrogacy is permitted when it is-
    • for intending couples who suffer from proven infertility
    • Altruistic
    • not for commercial purposes
    • not for producing children for sale, prostitution or other forms of exploitation
    • for any condition or disease specified through regulations
  • Eligibility criteria: The intending couple should have a ‘certificate of essentiality’ and a ‘certificate of eligibility’ issued by the appropriate authority ex. District Medical Board.

Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART)

  • It is used to treat infertility.
  • It includes fertility treatments that handle both a woman's egg and a man's sperm.
  • It works by removing eggs from a woman's body.
  • The eggs are then mixed with sperm to make embryos.
  • The embryos are then put back in the woman's body.
  • In vitro fertilization (IVF) is the most common and effective type of ART.
  • ART procedures sometimes use donor eggs, donor sperm, or previously frozen embryos.
  • It may also involve a surrogate or gestational carrier.
  • A surrogate is a woman who becomes pregnant with sperm from the male partner of the couple.
  • A gestational carrier becomes pregnant with an egg from the female partner and the sperm from the male partner.
  • The most common complication of ART is a multiple pregnancy.
  • It can be prevented or minimized by limiting the number of embryos that are put into the woman's body.

Surrogacy

  • Surrogacy involves a woman agreeing to carry a baby for someone else.
  • After the baby is born, the birth mother gives custody and guardianship to the intended parent or parents.
  • A woman who agrees to carry and give birth to a baby for another person is a surrogate or birth mother.
  • Parents of a baby born through a surrogacy arrangement are known as intended or commissioning parents.
  • India is one of the few countries that still allow commercial surrogacy.
  • Commercial surrogacy, on the other hand, is allowed in India without any legal basis.
  • This essentially implies that, while commercial surrogacy is legal in India, there is no particular law governing it.

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